/*
 * This file is part of Catfish.
 * Copyright (C) 2010 Namazu Studios LLC
 * 
 * Catfish is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as 
 * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of 
 * the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 * Catfish is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License along with Catfish.  If not, please visit:
 *  
 * http://www.gnu.org/licenses/
 *  
 */
package com.namazustudios.catfish.provider;

/**
 * Provides an object of the given type. Generally providers should be static
 * (non-enclosed) type that has a default constructor.
 * 
 * It is used to provide default values for unknown values. For instance, if
 * code is refactored and fields are added to a class, an instance of a provider
 * will be used to provide default values for those not persisted in the
 * datastore.
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * @author patricktwohig
 * 
 * @param <T>
 */
public interface ValueProvider<T> {

	/**
	 * Provides a default value for the Field when the property is not found in
	 * the data store.
	 * 
	 * @param field
	 * @return
	 */
	public T provide(Class<? extends T> type);

}
